I really wanted to buy a Yamaha CRW-F1...but as a poor student, I just can't afford it right now. My main concern is audio ripping and burning, that's why I wanted the Yamaha.

But the Lite-on 48x-12x-48x retail looks like a viable option at $99 CDN.

So, how are people's experiences with ripping audio with the Lite-on? I want quality rips, that's why I was going to opt for the Yamaha...but would there actually be difference in quality between the two drives?

The LiteOns I have do ok ay ripping. they are fast and acurate but mostly not forgiving of errors. The latest firmware for the 48 seems to have made it a much improved ripper and writer as far as quality and ability to read bad disks. They will not rip protected audio cd's however, so if you have any of those it might be a bad choice. The Plex's and Yamahas will rip most of that type of audio disk.